BMW Profits Keep Rising Despite Declining Sales In The First Quarter

The BMW Group has reported a positive jump of 12.1 per cent in its earnings, to €3.39 billion ($3.6 billion) before interest and tax, for the first quarter of 2022.

In the German automaker’s quarterly earnings, it revealed that profit before tax across the group jumped to €12.2 billion ($12.85 billion) with revenues sitting at €31.142 billion ($32.81 billion). The reported profit was a significant jump from the €3.757 billion ($3.96 billion) reported through the first quarter of 2021 while group revenue was also higher than the €26.778 ($28.21 billion) reported over the same period last year.

These positive figures come despite the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 lockdowns that impacted BMW’s supply chain.

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Helping to bolster revenue at the BMW Group was the company’s move to acquire an additional 25 per cent of the shares in its Chinese joint venture with Brilliance. The formal transfer of shares was completed on February 11, 2022 having been first announced on October 11, 2018 and means BMW known owns a 75 per cent stake of the joint venture. The contractual term of this joint venture has also been extended from 2028 until 2040.

“The war in Ukraine and the resulting limited availability of wiring harnesses, the continuing shortage of semiconductor components, and the pandemic-related lockdown in China led to global production interruptions during the first quarter 2022,” BMW said in its financial report. “However, the resulting decline in sales volumes was offset by positive pricing and product mix effects, as well as by the higher volume of business with spare parts and accessories. Pre-owned automobile markets, particularly in the USA and the UK, also continued to perform well, enabling higher selling prices, and therefore higher revenues to be achieved from lease returns. Revenues also benefited from favorable currency effects.”

BMW’s sales were slightly down from the first quarter of 2021 with a total of 596,907 vehicles delivered across the automotive segment compared with the 636,606 sold in Q1 2021. Production also dropped from 669,118 units last year to 541,776.

The German carmaker has reported a jump in the sales of its all-electric and hybrid models. Most notably, sales of all-electric models more than doubled to 35,289, up from 14,161 units in the previous quarter.